Cuba says adios to the greenback

[Mika]

Cuba says adios to the greenback
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1119/p04s01-woam.html

SANTA CLARA, CUBA – Cubans clutching dollar bills and Western Union wire transfers lined up Saturday outside the bank near Leoncio Vidal Park in this bustling town square toward the heart of the island. They came to trade their George Washingtons for notes featuring Ernesto "Che" Guevara and other Latin revolutionaries.

Across Cuba last week, taxi drivers, doctors, tourists, and those with family in the US made the switch after the government eliminated the circulation of US dollars in the island's economy. A resolution by the Central Bank of Cuba last month called for the elimination of dollars as a countermeasure to the recent tightening of US sanctions against Cuba.

-

More than just a petty snub toward its neighbor to the north, however, some Cuba watchers say the move has a significant upshot for the Cuban economy: a quick infusion of hard currency that may ultimately help circumvent the US embargo.

"While in the short term the dollar ban will certainly increase revenues to the Castro government as many Cubans rush to exchange their dollars for convertible pesos, the main reason behind Cuba's policy is to build a new hard-currency base, which can be deposited abroad more easily," says Paolo Spadoni, an expert at the University of Florida in Gainsville, who recently returned from Cuba.

Dollars first entered the Cuban economy in 1993 during Cuba's "special period" following the fall of the Soviet Union and the loss of Soviet financial support. Throughout the 1990s, shops, hotels, and restaurants opened that accepted only US dollars. But they remained inaccessible to most Cubans. The dollarization of the country also led to a dual economy where only Cubans with access to American currency could afford certain goods and services.

Most Cubans reacted with pride to the decision to "dedollarize" the economy.

More.. http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1119/p04s01-woam.html




Pssst, Cuba is moving to Euro dollars.





Cuba: The one nation that the US has a trade surplus with.

[Gay Green]

1. Good for them!

Perhaps the rest of the planet should follow suit! Starting with the oil exporters.

[DeadManInc]

2. greenbacks

Might as well ditch them. When Shrub is through they won't be worth anything anyways!

[amber dog democrat]

3. There is that old saying Norte American Dollars es Sur Ameican dolores

or American Dollars are South American Sadness.
Good for them. We did them a favor.

[robcon]

4. I think this is wishful thinking.

Mika wrote: "Pssst, Cuba is moving to Euro dollars.
"

Where are they going to get Euros? They run a deficit with Euroland.

The chances of Cuba having a hard currency, and a convertible peso are zero. No communist country has ever had a convertible currency.

[Mika]

6. Actually, I meant that the Euro would be accepted in Cuban stores..

.. and that the US dollar would no longer be.

(My fault. I should have been more clear.)

:hi:

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.